Peter Withe

Peter Withe
Personal information
Full name Peter Withe
Date of birth (1951-08-30) 30 August 1951
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971 Southport 3 (0)
1971–1972 Barrow 1 (0)
1972–1973 Port Elizabeth City
1973 Arcadia Shepherds
1973–1975 Wolverhampton Wanderers 17 (3)
1975 Portland Timbers 22 (16)
1975–1976 Birmingham City 35 (9)
1976–1978 Nottingham Forest 75 (28)
1978–1980 Newcastle United 76 (25)
1980–1985 Aston Villa 182 (74)
1985–1989 Sheffield United 74 (18)
1987 → Birmingham City (loan) 8 (2)
1989–1990 Huddersfield Town 38 (1)
1991 Aston Villa 0 (0)
Total 539 (177)
National team
1981–1984 England 11 (1)
Teams managed
1991 Wimbledon
1998–2002 Thailand
2004–2007 Indonesia
2012 Woodley Sports/Stockport Sports
(renamed in 2012)
2013–2014 PTT Rayong
2014–2016 Nakhon Pathom United

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Peter Withe /wɪð/ (born 30 August 1951 in Liverpool) is a much-travelled English footballer who played as a striker between 1971 and 1990. He has also worked as a manager, predominantly in south-east Asia.

The highlights of his career came at Aston Villa, where he was a key player in the Football League title triumph of 1980–81 and scored his side's only goal in their 1982 European Cup Final victory.

His brother, Chris, played for Bradford City.

Playing career

During the summer of 1975, Withe spent one season in the United States as a member of the expansion Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League (NASL).[1] The lynchpin of a strong attack, the big bearded Liverpudlian scored 17 goals and added 7 assists in 22 games to lead the Timbers to first place in their division and a tie for the best record in the league at 16–6. Withe's knack for scoring goals that summer made him a favourite of the Portland supporters, who nicknamed him "The Mad Header" and "The Wizard of Nod." [2] In August the Timbers played two home play-off games in front of more than 30,000 fans each, numbers unheard of for US soccer at the time. They advanced to Soccer Bowl '75, the League Championship, in San Jose, California on August 24, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0.[3]

Withe won the Football League First Division championship with Nottingham Forest but then left in 1978 to join Newcastle United,[4] then in the Second Division for a transfer fee of £225,000.[3] The Magpies were Withe's ninth club in less than eight years.

Ron Saunders took him to Aston Villa on the eve of the 1980–81 season when the Birmingham club forked out £500,000 on the 29-year-old striker, the club's record signing at the time. Withe scored 20 times in 36 games to finish joint-top scorer in the league with Tottenham Hotspur's Steve Archibald in that first season as Aston Villa went on to win the Football League title. Withe was also the scorer of Villa's winner against Bayern Munich in the European Cup final of 1982.[3]

After five years, he eventually moved on to Sheffield United, in what he later described as "the biggest wrench of my career."

Capped by England 11 times, Withe scored once, and was the first Aston Villa player to be selected in an English World Cup Finals squad (in España 82).

Managerial career

Withe had a brief spell as manager of Wimbledon, being brought in from the position of reserve team coach at Aston Villa in October 1991 following Ray Harford's resignation. Withe's time in charge was not at all successful, winning only one game out of thirteen in the league,[5] and he was replaced after just 105 days at the helm by the club's youth team coach Joe Kinnear.[6]

Withe went into management and, after propelling the Thailand national team towards some success, managed Indonesia until 18 January 2007. He was sacked due to his side's inability to go past the first round of the ASEAN Football Championship, the tournament which he previously won with Thailand in 2000 and 2002, then finished as the runner-up with Indonesia in 2004. He was given a brief touchline ban as manager of Thailand for wearing shorts during an international match against the United Arab Emirates. The head of the Thai Football Association said he should be wearing a suit.

He managed English non-league club Stockport Sports from April to November 2012.[7][8]

Present day

Withe's son, Jason, also became a footballer, coach and manager.[9]

Career honours

As a player

Portland Timbers
Nottingham Forest
Aston Villa

As a manager

Thailand
Indonesia

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ Matthew Horner (2009). He Shot, He Scored: The Official Biography of Peter Ward. ebookpartnership.com. pp. 30–. ISBN 978-0-9562769-0-2.
  2. ↑ Michael Orr (21 November 2011). The 1975 Portland Timbers: The Birth of Soccer City, USA. The History Press. pp. 24–. ISBN 978-1-60949-466-7.
  3. 1 2 3 Paul Peters (8 February 2015). Aston Villa The England Story. Lulu.com. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-1-326-16557-4.
  4. ↑ Kev Fletcher (26 June 2015). The Toon's Greatest 100 Players...EVER!. Lulu.com. pp. 113–. ISBN 978-1-326-29685-8.
  5. ↑ Ken Ferris (1 March 2013). Football Fanatic: A Record Breaking Journey Through English Football. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-1-78057-801-9.
  6. ↑ Culley, Jon (20 January 1977). "Football: ...Old boys...". The Independent. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Peter Withe appointed Woodley boss". NonLeagueDaily.com. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Club Statement". Stockport Sports F.C. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  9. ↑ Thompson, Steve (18 March 2012). "Son of a gun, Jason Withe: Title-winning coach eyes 'unfinished business'". goal.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
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